591 - Sorting Stuff Out (3) Flames of War!

Hullo All,

Time for another blast from the past...and the future! In this case, back to Flames of War, for a farewell re-familiarisation before the launch of Fourth Edition!

The rather splendid and entirely patient 'CM' hosted me at DarkStar in Plymouth for a Late-War 1515pt game. I took these fellows:

[Well, that's most of them!]

...and CM had some Fallschirmjager. Very similar forces, in fact, but I was rather wary of her Nebelwerfen and trio of StuGs. 

My right flank - 4,2" Mortars, 3Pl,
Carrier Patrol and Shermans

My centre - 25pdr Battery and 6pdrs

My left - 1Pl, 2Pl, 3" Mortars,
Shermans and (at the top) my S-P Bofors.
The Bofors, by the way, were SUPERB!

We played 'Meeting Engagement' by virtue of it being the most straightforward mission, but we still only got (I think) four whole turns.


The light had broken above our table, so it was pretty gloomy (and hard to discern one 15mm unit from another at times) but still, CM's table (she made the cloth herself!) really helped to make it all look very pretty. One forgets just how cool our toys can look at 15mm!

A blurry shot of the gloomy table; maybe
taken from my Auster AOP! Gorgeous table.

The verdict?

- Well, bring on 4th Edition. I'd forgotten just how frustratingly ponderous and turgid Flames of War (3rd) can be - doubly so when you're three-and-a-half-years rusty. I really, honestly struggled to enjoy it, despite CM's best efforts and the fact that - technically - I 'won'. 

My two Shermans and a Firefly finish off the
scary StuGs (top; overturned)...

...And then turned and blatted the two 8-Rads to smithereens too.

Version 4, however, genuinely looks like a far slicker operation, and I'm looking forward to both securing my free new rulebooks (who doesn't love Battlefront's awesome approach to customer service, eh?!) and giving it a whirl.  

...and then, at some point, there's always the Battlegroup rules set at 15mm too, of course!

- Drax.

538 - Uh-Oh. Shizzle Just Got Real.

Plastic Soldier Company are finally making good on their 'in the pipeline' promises of yore:

This means that my proposed 15mm Desert Rats Light Tank Company will now - officially - be happening - probably my next new project once February's Bolt Action tourney is out of the way.

On that note, by the way (and recent festive business notwithstanding) I've now pretty much finished the painting of my final 15 infantry from my army for that... it'll just be basing left after tonight. Update later this week.

- Drax.

526 - 6MMRPC 13: Comets Finished

This is last week's post.

I finished 'em! Hooray!

...and now they're up for auction via tabletopbattle.com, to raise funds for veterans' charties.

Usual Draxian outdoor photography. You may remember that one of them was supplied without the turret bits, so - as you'll see below - I've made that one into a casualty with a smoke plume and even an optional base, for it to be used as an objective.

Point to note: this is not only my first attempt with a proper smoke plume; it's also my first attempt at adding antennae to 15mm vehicles.

Hope you're well,

- Drax.

525 - 6MMRPC 12: Comets Almost Finished

Busy back at work, but yes, I have been painting. Still ploughing through these Comets for the tabletopbattle.com charity auction. I've about a week left to finish them and ship 'em to Norway.

Here's this week's progress (preceded by a pic of last week's progress, just because Dai didn't believe me):

Last week's progress - note that the paint on the road wheels is only blocked out, and the reversed turrets are still waiting for their proper basecoat (Russian Uniform) 

This week - progress part 1. Road wheels and tyres done.

This week - progress part 2. details and decals pretty much all now in place. They're balanced like that so that you can see the decals on each of the projections.

Cheers, guys - wish me luck!

- Drax.

521 - 6MMRPC 10: - - We Interrupt This Broadcast - -

This week I should have been posting fiction in the aftermath of The Second Siege of Agratha, but technical issues and real life have conspired to prevent me from doing so. 

[What I should be writing about]

I'm also terrible at writing fluff but please allow me to draw your attention to these marvellous contributions from the camps of Col. Gravis and Col. Winterbourne respectively:

• Gravis (part 1; plenty more thereafter: link here)
• Winterbourne (part 1; more to follow: link here)

For my part in the meantime, I shall meet the statutory requirements of 6MMRPC by noting that this week I was at least able to do a wee bit more building, viz, I have now completed making my troop of Comets - four tanks and what will be a wreck (see here for details from before: link):

Imagine three-and-a-half more of these...

Fluff soon, I promise.

Drax out.

514 - 6MMRPC 7: A Little More Excitement for Drax

Hullo, All.

I'm afraid that this single tank will need to count for this week's 6MMRPC, as I've been away in Amsterdam all last week. But it's a great tank:

Not yet finished, but an absolute JOY to construct! Kudos, Battlefront; kudos.

That's right - the excellent Damon over at tabletopbattle.com [link] has invited me to paint up a unit for their charity auctions (for veterans - check it out on their site!), and I offered to paint their donated Battlefront Comets, seeing as I'm geared up for painting 11th Armoured Division tanks anyway. Yay!

NB: Being a low-urgency painted-for-charity unit, I shall decree that this unit will NOT count as a 'purchase' towards my 6MMRPC, but I shall factor its completion into my list. Pleasingly, I'll be able to paint these in concert with my recently-built replacement Shermans...

The Comets arrived whilst I was away: it's four complete tanks plus a fifth minus its turret. Damon has suggested making it an objective marker, so that'll be a nice challenge too. Included in the package was also the lovely box of Soviet Naval Brigade, as mentioned in my last post. Gorgeous.

But these babies are not my priority right now. Time ticks on apace, and I've got 25 stormtroopers to paint, methinks...and my summer holidays have just begun...

- D.

506 - 6MMRPC 3: Still Beginning....and Painting Chart

Alright, Dudes.

Here's what my painting chart looks like for Flames of War these days:

I've just noticed that the new Vickers platoon's bases should be medium - not large. D'oh!

At some point over the last few months I bought and built the Vickers MG platoon, which is officially the only unit I was 'missing' from my 11AD force. Since last post, I've made all five of my new Shermans now (the older, finished one is for comparison) - hooray! I actually added some tracks-n-stuff to each glacis too, for once:

...And that's where I am this week!

- Drax.

505 - 6MMRPC 2: It Begins.

Right then. I've started to tackle the plastic pile.

First up? Three of the five Plastic Soldier Company Shermans that I bought so that I can do two very specific things:
1) Replace the three resin US Shermans from the old-style 'Open Fire' starter set so I can repaaint them as the heavily armoured backbone of my nascent Desert Rats force, and
2) Replace one of my two Fireflies in each troop with a normal Sherman, so that I can play an Op Overlord list rather than an Op Market Garden list.

[with apologies for crappy mobile phone pic]

Construction even included a bit of painting, as whilst the tanks were undercoated and green basecoated on the sprues, I still needed to base the tracks black.

So I did. 

Modelling + Painting = 6MMRPC Win.

See you soon,

- D.

499 - "Men of Harlech, On to Glory!"

This is Post 499 - that means the next one's a biggie for Drax. There'll even be a wee competition, with predictably underwhelming prizes. But first...

THANK YOU, WALES!

...Because you gave the world Dai, over at The Lost and the Damned and the Stunted [link] and he sent me a wonderful pressie through the post: A pack of flowers, with which to prettify the bases of my new 28mm Bolt Action Brits...and as a special treat, a dessert-painted Honey Stuart for my next-on-the-list-and-soon-to-be-cobbled-together Flames of War Desert Rats. 

What a gent!

Sadly, I don't have access to the camera at the moment, so I can't take any pics, but in honour of his lovely gift, I spent an enjoyable two evening hobby sessions watching the marvellous 'Zulu' (which is - of course - my favourite film of all time), so here instead is Alphonse de Neuille's 'The Defence of Rorke's Drift' instead. A smashing piece of work:

In the meantime, by the way, the internet is still TERRIBLE here, which is why I've been on your blogs less. Do be patient - I'll be back, I promise!

- Drax.

471 - Flames 11AD Infantry Company (4KSLI) FINISHED AT LAST!

Yup - the title says it all: I've finally finished my Flames of War LW 11th Armoured Division Infantry Company (4 King's Shropshire Light Infantry) with attached support for Op. Market-Garden. Yay!

For once in my misbegotten life, I actually tried to set up something approaching some decent lighting in my kitchen - the least dimly lit corner of my damp and dingy cottage - but it didn't really work, so I've used the dreaded 'autocorrect' on some of these pics, I'm afraid. Sorry! Anyway, onto the pics (many of which are larger than usual, if you'd like to open them in a new tab)...

[above] - "Group hug, everyone!"

[above] - By the left...

[above] - ...by the centre...

[above] - ...and by the right. Now onto the composite units.

[above] - the converted Carrier Platoon and the Anti-Tank Platoon (6pdrs; (late))

[above] - 1 Platoon (previously 3 Platoon but better painted)

[above] - HQ, 2i/c and the slightly frosted (grrr!) 2 Platoon.

[above] - 3 Platoon. Actually, I've just thought that I might in fact swap 2 and 3 Platoons in future. It makes no difference, of course, other than in my head!

[above] - 3" Mortar Platoon

[above] - And so, onto the back row. This is the 4.2" Mortar Platoon, courtesy of  2 MG Coy, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers  

[above] - 1 Troop, A Squadron, 3RTR

2 Bofors 40mm S-P Anti-Aircraft Guns from 75th Light AA Regiment

[above] - 2 Troop, A Squadron, 3RTR

[above] - a Gun Troop of four [ridiculously underpowered] 25pdrs from 151 Ayreshire Yeomanry, RA

[above] - Look to the skies! An RAF Typhoon and an Army Auster AOP (scratchbuilt to scale before I realised that planes aren't usually to consistent scale in Flames...)

[above] - The Thin Olive-Drab-and-Khaki Line

[above] - "Er...Charge?"

[above] - "Yup - CHARGE!"

Hobby-wise, I could scarcely be happier - thanks to those of you who've followed me through this long and drawn-out process - especially for all of the reassuring and encouraging comments along the way!

Next stop: NORTH AFRICA*!

Cheers,

- Drax.
 
[*Actually, that's not true. the NEXT-next stop is actually painting up some new Shermans to replace the Yankee ones you'll see in the pics above (they will be shipping to North Africa) and so that I can field an Op. Overlord list for 11AD. But that's a detail, right?]